MICHAEL JOHNSON

A memorial service and celebration of life for Michael Johnson will be held Saturday, June 25 at 2 p.m. at the Furness Funeral Home Chapel, 402 N Commercial Street in Clark. Lunch will be served after the service as we all tell stories and remember the good times we’ve shared with Mike. Burial next to his parents will follow at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Clark where grandparents and many other family members are buried.

Michael Douglas Johnson, age 67, Sioux Falls, formerly of Woonsocket, died peacefully of cancer at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls on Wednesday, October 7, 2021. Mike didn’t want a traditional funeral, instead he wanted to be cremated and have his family and friends celebrate his life together.

Michael Douglas Johnson, was born December 7, 1953, in O’Fallon, Illinois, to parents Harold L. Johnson and Clarine (Cochrane) Johnson. He grew up in Lake Andes and was the first born of three Johnson children. He graduated from Andes Central High School in 1972. He then graduated from Mitchell Vocational Technical School. Following in the footsteps of his father (Harold of Lake Andes), he accepted a job as a telephone man for Sanborn Telephone Company in Woonsocket, and was later promoted to supervisor and manager.

Mike married Sue Goehring from Wessington Springs (m. 1978, d. 1997) and they had a son, Dustin Michael Johnson in 1980. In the summer of 1997, he got guardianship of his nephew, Mike Flammond, who moved to Woonsocket to live with Mike and Dusty. Mike continued to work for Sanborn Telephone for 36 years before retiring in 2010. During his retirement, he spent time traveling to various places including Denver, Colorado, as well as to Harlingen, Texas where he bought a winter home. In 2020, Mike moved in with his son, Dustin, in Sioux Falls where he remained until his death.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Clarine Johnson, formerly of Lake Andes and Clark; and grandparents, Ted and Mildred Cochrane and John and Carrie Johnson of Clark.

Grateful for having shared in his life are his son, Dustin of Sioux Falls; sisters Kristy Bower of Harlingen, TX and Darci (Greg) Mohr, of Arvada, CO; his nieces and nephews, Nikki Flammond of Denver, Mike Flammond serving in the Army at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tyler (Emily) Flammond of Guntersville, Alabama, Casey Flammond of Los Angeles, CA and Emily Noel, Kelly and Rachel Mohr of Arvada and Denver, CO; and several aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Funeral arrangements are with Furness Funeral Home where there is an online registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com